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A young polar bear swimmer showed true community spirit by plunging daily in the cold ocean this winter for two local community groups. 

Sylas Thompson, 11, showed true community spirit by raising more than $37,000 for two local groups that support people struggling with poverty, the Women’s Resource Centre and Grassroots Kind Hearts.

The campaign began on Feb. 1, when he pledged to swim everyday in the ocean until he’d gathered $30,000 in donations. He ultimately surpassed that goal by a long shot. 

“I’m not trying to brag or anything, but I feel proud of myself that I could do that, that I could push myself to do that and go in the water everyday,” said Thompson in April. 

His polar bears swims continued for 36 consecutive days amid low temperatures that broke records stretching back to 1958. Those included Feb. 10 (-13 C), Feb. 11 (-15.5 C), Feb. 26 (-10 C) and Feb. 27 (-10 C). Overall, the month was also colder than an average February and was marked by extraordinary snowfall. Thompson was unfazed by these frigid conditions. 

The campaign also shone a light on poverty in Campbell River, raising awareness about the struggles of homeless people during a period when the resources of local shelters were stretched especially thin. Children learned about some of these issues as Thompson spoke about his campaign in two schools.

Thompson’s updates on Facebook and YouTube also helped generate awareness, and people from throughout the community showed their support with donations. Some brave individuals even joined him for a swim. 

The effort may well inspire future fundraising initiatives. Thompson followed in the footsteps of his late uncle “Polar Bear” Jake Hebenton, who previously raised funds for the BC Elders Gathering and the local food bank by swimming off Tyee Spit in the early 2000s. 

After Hebenton’s death in 2011, his cousin Eddy Cliffe launched another polar bear swim campaign at the same spot.

The groups that Thompson’s campaign supported provide critical services. Grassroots Kind Hearts provides a daily hot meal to homeless people and others struggling with poverty.

The Women’s Resource Centre offers a wide range of services, including a poverty relief program that provides essentials like personal hygiene products, clothing and linens.

Thompson said he’s thinking about doing another campaign, likely in 2021. He said more efforts are needed to help people struggling with poverty.  

“There should be more money raised,” he said. “This should keep on going on…There’s gotta be more money to get more resources for homeless people.”

Mary Ashley is always striving to make her community better. This woman does not sit still and serves as a role model, a mentor and an inspiration for those who strive to build a positive future for Campbell River.

She was Campbell River’s first female mayor, a City councilor before that and is a Freeman of the City of Campbell River. She has served on numerous boards in the non-profit sector, most notably the Campbell River Community Foundation – which she essentially founded – and the Island Corridor Foundation and many others. She also sat on the board of the Coastal Community Credit Union for nine years, only recently retiring from it. She has a three-page CV of community organizations she has been involved in.

As a newcomer to Campbell River in 1970, she got involved in community service, partly as a way to get to know people but also because it was a tradition in her family. Besides that, it is something she enjoys doing and she loves to give back to the community a little of what she and her family have gotten from it.

“We have received so much from this community,” Ashley says. 

Ashley’s service is fueled by her boundless energy and sustained by her ability to work with people.

“I am a people person,” Ashley states simply.

She credits her time on City Council for developing a lot of her abilities.

“I learned a lot of that from being on City Council,” she says. “It had its challenges but it was a really positive experience.”

Ashley found being on council and then being mayor demanded all of the skills she had developed in her years of community service. In fact, it was, in some way, the ultimate community service work.

“I found it to be sort of the culmination of every kind of volunteer thing I have been involved in,” she says.

Her time as mayor was a period of significant challenge. It was the time when the Beaver Lodge Lands were discovered to be a parcel of land bequeathed in the 1930’s to the Province for forestry research and pulled the rug out from under the City’s plan to develop and subdivide the area for much-needed housing. It was a difficult time for the community that generated a lot of division, Ashley says. But the community found a way to adapt to the challenge.

Much like Ashley, who is never daunted by change.

“Luckily, I enjoy working with change. Some people don’t but I consider it a challenge. I think it’s exciting, change can be really exciting,” Ashley says. “And I never want to be stuck in a groove.”

And that’s what keeps Ashley going and showing no signs of stepping back from pushing herself and her community forward.

“For me and for the community too, if you think that there’s nothing that needs to be improved and you want everything to stay the same, I think you are on the wrong track. You should always be thinking about what’s coming in the future and what we can do to mitigate problems and to encourage well-being in the community amongst all people who live here. You’re never going to run out of ways of improving situations.”

ICU staff give an institution heart.

It takes teamwork to be an angel.

That’s the discovery you’ll make if you spend any time with the Campbell River Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and its team of angels.

The ICU is not a place where you want to be but if you have to be there, you’ll come to appreciate the ICU staff. They not only get patients through their treatment under frequently trying conditions, they also help the families get through the ordeal.

“It’s not just the medical needs, it’s also looking after the family, supporting them through some of the really hard times when a loved one is sick,” said Connie Walters, ICU Clinical Coordinator. And that support involves helping a family get through the worst kind of news that can sometimes be the reality of medical care. 

The Campbell River ICU is an adult care unit that looks after anyone from 18 years old to 90 years old who are dealing with a variety of health issues. After treatment has been applied in emergency or some other ward, they are sent to the ICU to continue treatment and or recovery.

It’s because the patients and families are enduring some of the most difficult times, their emotions are raw and open. The ICU staff at the Campbell River Hospital are frequently the recipient of some of the most heartfelt gratitude that can be expressed and that even comes through when the path of an illness comes to an inevitable but tragic conclusion.

As one person who nominated the ICU for a Local Hero award said, “When you are at your absolute worst, this band of angels is at its absolute best, 24/7.”

But it’s not just one person who provides this support it’s a diverse group of medical professionals that include doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, admitting personnel, cleaning staff or what have you.

There’s a special spirit in the ICU and it finds it’s heart in the diverse group of medical professionals that staff the unit. But it goes beyond credentials, training and qualifications. It stems from a caring attitude that permeates the whole unit. Everybody takes their job seriously but never lose the human touch.

Despite the Campbell River Hospital being still a brand new, state-of-the-art medical facility, it doesn’t lose sight of the fact that this is a community hospital. And it’s a personal connection for the ICU staff.

“It truly is a community hospital,” says Craig McDermid, a Respiratory Therapist at the hospital. “These are people you would see out in the community.”

“People you would know if you grew up here,” adds Melissa Egan, a Nursing Unit Assistnt.

One of the strongest characteristics of the ICU is the sense of togetherness amongst the staff. Everyone works together and everyone’s input is cultivated and respected. Everyone is valued.

“It truly is a team,” says Egan.

And that positive working environment is picked up by the patients and their families. The care the ICU team gives is always appreciated. Families frequently send letters or cards to the unit thanking them for the care that a loved one received.

Mike Gage founded the Campbell River Fishing Guides Association in 1966. 

He’s been a member of the Tyee Club since 1975, serving as president from 1980 to 1993. The only reason he stepped down was so that his presidency wouldn’t be longer than Dr. Richard Murphy’s 14 years at the helm of the club out of respect for the man who kept the club afloat financially out of his own pocket when it looked like it would fold.

He’s been an active member of the Campbell River Sports Fishing Advisory Board for over 25 years.

He founded the Campbell River Salmon Foundation with Kris Mailman back in 2007 and has been an active member – including as vice chair – since stepping down as the chair of the foundation five years after its formation.

He’s almost single-handedly responsible for the current program of replacing gravel in the Campbell River to support salmon spawning. He was the driving force behind the Nature Conservancy of Canada finding the money to purchase Baikie Island from Raven Industries for $1.8 million, allowing it to become a protected site and allow restoration to begin after decades of industrial use.

It’s safe to say that Mike Gage is one of the powerhouses in the Campbell River ecological fight for what is good in the world, especially when it comes to fish and fish habitat.

“I came out here in 1959 – 60 years ago this October – and worked for UBC down in Oyster River clearing land, then I went out into the woods (in forestry),” Gage says. On the weekends, he guided for Painter’s Lodge, taking guests out fishing.

He’s got a soft spot for salmon, that’s for sure. You can see it in his eyes when he talks about making the world a little better for them.

“We raised five sons here, and they were, and still are, keen fishermen,” he says. “Fishing has been really good to us. Three of them put themselves through university on the money they made as fishing guides.”

But what he’s possibly most proud of is his decade-long fight with BC Hydro over the removal of the Salmon River Diversion Dam, which finally happened in 2017. It’s one of the greatest things to happen to salmon habitat in our region in quite some time, he says.

“The best thing we got out of that is the extra 42 km of extra river for the fish,” he says. “And the water we got comes from right up in the last place the snow leaves Vancouver Island. It’s cold and it’s the most perfect water for salmon. That could be the best thing I’ve ever been involved in.”

Rick Wall spent about 40 years in the navy, mostly in the regular force, and he retired in 2008, or so he thought. He did another four years in reserves, which ended in 2013. 

He also had started helping with Emergency Support Services, which seemed like a natural fit.

“I got to know emergency management because that was my job in the navy,” he says. “I had whole nine months off…. I got used to carrying around a phone with me and being on call.” 

As a volunteer with the Campbell River Emergency Support Services, he looks after people in distress in the immediate aftermath of incidents, such as house fires. The focus of ESS, he says, is on those first 72 hours during which they also liaise with the Red Cross, which takes over after three days.

“We do response, they do recovery,” he says. “We’re part of the emergency response.” 

This ESS program focuses on getting people the essentials of life – a roof over your head, clothes on your back, food in your belly – and Wall says the program has set up arrangements with local suppliers, restaurants and hotels to help out. 

And this need can arise anytime, such as when Wall and the local ESS team arrived about 2 a.m. when the Quinsam Hotel caught fire in June 2017. There, they arranged for the people to get out of the cold and into short-term accommodations.

As part of his volunteering, Rick gives presentations with grab-and-go bags, pointing out the items every home should have in the event people get the call to leave their homes.

He was one of the founding members of the North Island Emergency Preparedness Society, which was set up nearly 10 years ago to provide an annual training workshop for Emergency Support Services 

directors on Vancouver Island. It’s grown and now gets participants from through B.C.

He’s also been seconded to go elsewhere because of wildfires. In the summer of 2017, he was deployed to the B.C. Interior for a 19-day stretch. Initially, this was supposed to be in Prince George at the largest reception centre, but he asked to go to 100 Mile House when he heard about the dire situation there.

However, he expects he will be sticking close to home this summer and be ready to help out, should the need arise.

“At the moment, I’m not planning on going anywhere.”

Nic Pisterzi certainly doesn’t consider himself a hero, but he does acknowledge that he approaches his role in shaping the next generation a little differently than some.

“I guess I’m kind of a non-traditionalist when it comes to teaching,” Pisterzi says. “I try to think outside the box and I’m big on innovation. With that comes some issues, for sure, because there are bumps along the way. You have to embrace that and be willing to get through the tough stuff, and bring the kids along through it alongside you.”

Like Carihi Fly Fishing, for example. It was a little project that Pisterzi pitched as one of his innovative ideas, willing to take a gamble.

And the numbers speak for themselves.

Two years ago, the idea of Carihi Fly Fishing began as a little after-school club he started to see if there was any interest in learning the sport.

Over the course of two years, it went from a club to one class, to two classes, to two classes and a competitive team – members of which, by the way, make up half of the Canadian Youth National Fly Fishing Team as we discovered after their performances at the National Championships last month in Maple Ridge.

“I chose this job to do my bit to make the world spin a little better, a little happier,” he says. “And I think I’m doing that. My approach to teaching is very relationship-based. I’m all about building real relationships with these kids. I don’t just ask them how their weekend was, I actually want to know the answer,” he says with a laugh. 

“I don’t want them to just get through school, I want them to get good at life, and whatever I can do to nurture them and get them there, I’m happy to go the extra mile to do that.”

His reward, after all, isn’t the paycheque – because if it was he certainly wouldn’t be doing what he’s doing – it’s seeing the young people he’s been tasked with helping for a few hours per day develop into people he’s comfortable leaving in charge of the world we’re leaving to them.

“There’s nothing better than the smiles on their faces and watching them go on to make good decisions in life.”

June Johnson is an Indigenous Elder who is making a difference for young people in Campbell River. 

A member of the We Wai Kai First Nation from Cape Mudge, she’s an Elder-in-residence at North Island College, where she teaches language and culture. 

“I’ve been doing language for I think more than 10 years now for the community,” she said. “It’s about bringing back culture to our communities and anyone who wants to learn, we’re inclusive. It doesn’t matter where you’re from.” 

Participants include many First Nations foster children who live with non-Indigenous parents, she said. 

She teaches them about culture and protocol of the Big House, so they’re familiar with it when they attend a potlatch. She also teaches dances, she said. 

Children as young as two years old take part in the cultural activities, along with teenagers, young adults and Elders. 

She teaches Likwala-Kwakwala language, and a semester was just wrapping in mid-April, when Johnson spoke about her work in an interview.

She’s known as someone who doesn’t discriminate by band or whether or not someone is Indigenous – she feels that we are all one.

“Half of our class is non-Indigenous, and they’re doing awesome,” she said. “It’s really important for people to learn about our peoples and our territory. We all live together in the community, and it’s nice for everyone to learn.”

Johnson also teaches doctors and nurses about traditional plants and medicines, holding workshops at North Island College and putting in a Healing Garden of indigenous plants at the hospital. 

“The forest was always our pharmacy for hundreds of years,” she said. 

She’s also well-known for giving to many causes, and baking for family and friends. It’s something that she considers an everyday role. 

At the time of the interview, she was fundraising for the Paddle to Lummi, a celebration of the Coast Salish people and culture. Some 100 canoes are expected to travel the traditional highways to Lummi Nation in Washington State in July. 

“It’s a healing journey, and it’s really great when we bring the youth,” she said, adding that she participated in a similar expedition last year.

“I was the oldest,” said Johnson, who will be 73 this year. “We paddled from Port Angeles to Puyallup, I think it was about a week.” 

That’s a distance of some 185 km by road, according to Google Maps. She isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. 

“I said, ‘Maybe I’ll retire when I’m 80,’” she said. “Everybody just laughs at me. They said, ‘I don’t think so. You’ll probably still be there.’” 

Three Campbell River residents who attended the scene of an alleged assault in Campbell River saved the victim’s life, according to a constable with the Campbell River RCMP. 

Andrew Smith and Rebecca Hartley are the winners of the Local Hero Award for Courage and Bravery, while a third brave individual declined the award.  

Few details can be released about the incident, but it involved a woman allegedly being assaulted by an armed man in Campbell River earlier this year.

Rebecca Hartley was just returning from work when she heard a commotion. 

“I figured it was actually my neighbours’ teenage boys… and then all of a sudden I just heard this blood curdling ‘help me!’” 

When Hartley looked across the street, she saw a violent incident unfolding nearby. Moments later, she called 911 to alert police and get medical attention for the victim. 

In an interview, Hartley recalled putting the phone on speaker mode in her pocket, so her hands would be free and emergency dispatchers could listen to what was happening. She then crossed the street to confront the man.

“I just ran over, screaming at the top of my lungs, telling him to stop,” she said. 

Her yelling alerted other people in the area to the incident, according to the Campbell River RCMP constable who nominated Hartley. 

As for the woman who declined her award, Hartley said she helped confront the assailant.

“I remember she just walked up, totally no fear… now both of us are screaming at him,” she said.  

Meanwhile, Andrew Smith was in his front yard working with his daughter on a school project when he heard someone down the road screaming and yelling. 

“I poked my head out onto the road to see what was happening,” he recalled. “I could see a bit of commotion happening down on my street… about four or five houses down.”

He ran down to see what was going on, initially thinking it was a dog fight, since someone attending the scene had been walking her dogs. Instead, he found himself at the scene of a violent incident. 

Smith provided first aid to the victim and helped keep the assailant at bay until police and paramedics arrived. 

“I don’t think I need a nomination for anything,” said Smith. “I was just doing what normal people do, I guess.” 

But the police officer praised the extraordinary actions of the local residents, saying their “bravery and courage to step into this violent situation prevented further harm to the victim.”